FHP provides tips about roadside safety for drivers

Four people were killed on the I-75 late Thursday night after stopping to change a tire in an emergency.

Florida Highway Patrol says a car ran right into a group of people on the side of I-75 near the Sarasota County line. Four people died at the scene.

This was an eye-opening experience for drivers as we’ve all had to pull over to the shoulder at one point.

Florida law says every driver must move over when first responders are working a crash scene or when there are construction crews at work. But, FHP hopes, every driver gets over when they see a broken-down car along the side of the road.

On I-75, a 21-year-old man died when got out of his car to help people involved in a  crash.

Lieutenant Greg Bueno with Florida Highway Patrol has the official numbers. “We lost last year 3,299 lives on our roadways here in the State of Florida,” Bueno said.

Lieutenant Bueno says that he’s seen too many lives lost. While accidents do happen, too many are happening as a result of distracted drivers.

Jonh Ikevic says when driving he tries to stay alert. “I think just keeping vigilant and watching all around me. There’s a lot of scary bozos driving,” Ikevic said.

People don’t only die or only get injured when there’s a crash or a disabled car on the road. A video shows how some drivers don’t slow down even when there are first responders on scene.

One car spun out and hit and injured a trooper who was investigating a crash. Florida’s “Move Over” law demands drivers slow down and create a buffer so that first responders can work.

Bueno says drivers should do the exact same thing every time they see a car on the side of the road. “Drive like you think it’s your brother or your father on the side of the road when you’re passing them because you would surely want that respect to your family, so it’s incumbent upon you to give that same respect back,” said Bueno said.

“You just gotta be safe. I got my young son and my pregnant wife in the car,” Ikevic said.

FHP has not yet said whether the driver in last night’s crash will face criminal charges. Crash investigators are still working to identify the four men who died.